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How the Election Split France

Two outsiders, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, advanced in France’s presidential election on Sunday, setting up a runoff that could decide the future of the European Union. Election results are as of 4 a.m. Paris time.APRIL 23, 2017

Emmanuel Macron

Political novice and centrist, supports the E.U.

24.0%

Marine Le Pen

Far-right nationalist, anti-E.U. and anti-immigration

21.3%

François Fillon

Mainstream conservative candidate, pro-free-market

20.0%

Jean-Luc Mélenchon

Far-left, anti-free-market, wants new E.U. treaties

19.6%

Benoît Hamon

Socialist and environmentalist

6.4%

Candidate

Votes

Emmanuel Macron

Political novice and centrist, supports the E.U.

24.0%

Marine Le Pen

Far-right nationalist, anti-E.U. and anti-immigration

21.3%

François Fillon

Mainstream conservative candidate, pro-free-market

20.0%

Jean-Luc Mélenchon

Far-left, anti-free-market, wants new E.U. treaties

19.6%

Benoît Hamon

Socialist and environmentalist

6.4%

The two winners will rely on starkly different bases of support in the runoff on May 7.

Ms. Le Pen captured areas with high unemployment and low wages, where she campaigned on pledges to stop immigration and renegotiate France’s relationship with the European Union.

Mr. Macron dominated in economically dynamic areas and large cities, like Paris and Bordeaux, where his pro-business and socially progressive platform resonated with educated voters.

Where Mr. Macron found support

10

20

30%

map-winner

Where Ms. Le Pen found support

10

20

30%

map-second

A more detailed map showing which candidate won the most votes throughout France shows Ms. Le Pen winning large areas of the country, especially in the north and southeast.

Emmanuel Macron

Marine Le Pen

François Fillon

Jean-Luc Mélenchon

Jean Lassalle

Ms. Le Pen dominated most of the north, strengthening the National Front’s roots in a region with high unemployment.

Mr. Hamon was humiliated in Lille, traditionally a Socialist bastion, and finished with less than 7 percent over all.

Lille

Strasbourg

Paris

Rennes

Nantes

Mr. Fillon, who finished third, struggled to beat Ms. Le Pen in parts of his home region, where he received less than 30 percent.

Paris

Lyon

Bordeaux

Mr. Macron won big around Bordeaux, a center-left area where he is expected to rack up large margins in the runoff.

Nice

Toulouse

Marseille

Corse

Compared with 2012, Ms. Le Pen surged in the Nice region, historically a stronghold of parties on the right.

2

Paris

1

Paris

5

3

4

Ms. Le Pen dominated most of the north, strengthening the National Front’s roots in a region with high unemployment.

Mr. Hamon was humiliated in Lille, traditionally a Socialist bastion, and finished with less than 7 percent over all.

Lille

Strasbourg

Paris

Rennes

Nantes

Mr. Fillon, who finished third, struggled to beat Ms. Le Pen in parts of his home region, where he received less than 30 percent.

Paris

Lyon

Bordeaux

Mr. Macron won big around Bordeaux, a center-left area where he is expected to rack up large margins in the runoff.

Nice

Toulouse

Marseille

Corse

Compared with 2012, Ms. Le Pen surged in the Nice region, historically a stronghold of parties on the right.

2

Lille

1

Paris

Strasbourg

Paris

Rennes

Nantes

5

Lyon

Bordeaux

3

Nice

3

Toulouse

Marseille

1Ms. Le Pen dominated most of the north, strengthening the National Front’s roots in a region with high unemployment.

2Mr. Hamon was humiliated in Lille, traditionally a Socialist bastion, and finished with less than 7 percent over all.

3Mr. Macron won big around Bordeaux, a center-left area where he is expected to rack up large margins in the runoff.

4 Compared with 2012, Ms. Le Pen surged in the Nice region, historically a stronghold of parties on the right.

5Mr. Fillon, who finished third, struggled to beat Ms. Le Pen in parts of his home region, where he received less than 30 percent.

Support for Traditional Parties Collapsed

The result was a full-throated rebuke of France’s traditional mainstream parties, the Republican Party and the Socialist Party. Neither party will claim the presidency for the first time since 1981.

First-round vote share in presidential elections

Republicans

Socialists

Other parties

2012

27%

29

44

20%

6

74

2017

First-round vote share in presidential elections

Republicans

Socialists

Other parties

2012

27%

29

44

20%

6

74

2017

The Republicans party was called Union for a Popular Movement until 2015.

François Fillon, the Republican candidate, was charged with embezzlement last month, making him a symbol of the gap between the political elite and everybody else. And many voters felt that the Socialist Party had failed to address France’s worsening structural problems, like high unemployment.